Amid continuing protests over police killings of unarmed African American men in Ferguson, Mo., and New York's Staten Island, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite told the newest class of New Orleans police officers at their swearing-in ceremony Friday that now is not the most attractive time to become a law enforcer. The police officer's job has never been easy, with the constant threat of violence and confrontations with the city's most hardened and troubled people, and now law enforcement officers are under heightened scrutiny.

"Any interaction today, good or bad, can quickly become a world event," Polite told the packed Dillard University auditorium. Polite, whose father was an NOPD officer for almost four decades, spoke of integrity in law enforcement and urged the 26 graduates to remember why they chose to enter an unpleasant, dangerous and challenging profession. "Remember this first day, when all you wanted to do was serve and protect," he said.

The new officers join a department that faces a severe staffing shortage as it struggles to overhaul itself in line with a federally mandated consent decree. They spent the past 26 weeks in physical and academic instruction, including shooting, tactical driving and constitutional policing law. Their class was the first to include some new consent decree training requirements, such as ways of better helping foreign-language speakers and responding to domestic violence.

"They will never know life as a police officer without a body-worn camera," Police Superintendent Michael Harrison told the crowd. "Welcome to the new NOPD."

Mayor Mitch Landrieu asked the officers to help the Police Department rebuild the public's trust. He told the officers always to remember what they were taught: "You are not separate from the community, but a part of it."

On Sunday, officers will report to their new assignments in one of the NOPD's eight districts. They will spend the next 16 weeks as partners with experienced officers who will evaluate their performance.

They will be welcomed in the districts, which respond to 911 calls and are understaffed. "I'm looking at all of you, and it feels like a new dad on Christmas morning," Deputy Chief Robert Bardy told the officers.

The mayor fell short of his goal of hiring 150 new officers in 2014. Besides the 26 newest officers, another 29 recruits are in the training academy now and are expected to graduate in upcoming months. Meanwhile, 117 officers have left the department this year.

There are now 1,107 sworn officers at NOPD, a drop of more than 30 percent since 2010 and far from the 1,500 that the police chief has said New Orleans should have. The mayor and City Council have budgeted for 150 new officers in 2015 as well, and the department says hiring should be speedier next year due to infrastructure improvements.

New officer Stephen Williams told the audience that his class was made up of many who had left careers in the military, corporations and academia. Though they are from all over the state and country, he said, the class is united in its love for New Orleans. "We also grieve for the city. We share in the heartbreaks caused by senseless crime and violence," he said.

Many relatives said they were both proud and scared for their loved ones to hit the streets. "It can be worrisome for her safety, but God is calling her to do this, to be able to help others and society," said Terri Lewis, whose daughter, officer Tejon Lewis, studied forensics in college and is from the Washington D.C., area.

Martha Neal said she was "so, so proud" of her granddaughter, Tiara Lewis, 27, who won the academy's physical fitness test after she did 194 push-ups. "And she's one of the smaller people."

Lewis, 27, who joined the NOPD after a career in the Army National Guard, smiled as she spoke about her new post. "I'm feeling pretty good."